Submarine of the P class

HMS Pandora (Lt. Robert Love Alexander, RN) was sunk at the Valetta dockyard, Malta by two bombs from Italian aircraft on 1 April 1942. Raised in September 1943 but not repaired and beached at Malta. The wreck was scrapped in 1957.

Notable events involving Pandora include:

The history of HMS Pandora as compiled on this page is extracted from the patrol reports and logbooks of this submarine. Corrections and details regarding information from the enemy's side are kindly provided by Mr. Platon Alexiades, a naval researcher from Canada.

This page was last updated in November 2015.

13 Oct 1939HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) was undocked at Hong Kong where she had been refitting since mid July 1939. (1)

21 May 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) conducted exercises off Alexandria. She then departed for her 2nd war patrol (1st in the Mediterranean). She was to patrol to the North of Crete (Suda Bay area).

For the daily positions of HMS Pandora during this patrol see the map below.

28 Jun 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) ended her 3rd war patrol (2nd in the Mediterranean) at Malta. No Italian ships had been sighted. (10)

29 Jun 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) departed Malta for her 4th war patrol (3rd in the Mediterranean). She was ordered to patrol off Algiers.

For the daily and attack positions of HMS Pandora during this patrol see the map below.

(11)

4 Jul 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) torpedoed and sank the French sloop Rigault de Genouilly in position 36°53'N, 03°17'E. Rigault the Genouilly was en-route from Algiers to Bizerta.

Of her crew of 177, twelve were missing. Survivors were picked up by the fishing boats Jupiter and Julietta while the sloop Annamite attacked the submarine with depth charges. Three French aircraft joined the hunt and dropped bombs. The sinking of Rigault de Genouilly was an error as she was not regarded one of the objectives of operation Catapult and the British Admiralty presented its excuses to the French legation.

She was carrying 750 tons of fuel in company with Sirena (974 GRT, built 1883) escorted by the torpedo boat Enrico Cosenz and they had sailed from Ras Tajunes for Tobruk. Cosenz reacted immediately by dropping a pattern of eight depth charges, observed an oil patch and believed the submarine sunk. A second pattern of three depth charges followed for good measure and she then returned to pick up the survivors. The whole crew was saved.

(All times are zone -3)
0840 hours - Sighted an Italian convoy of two merchant ships and one escorting torpedo-boat (old type and correctly identified by Lt.Cdr. Linton by the letters CS on its bow as the Enrico Cosenz). Started attack on the rear ship.

0943 hours - Fired two torpedoes from 2500 yards. After a little over two minutes a heavy explosion was heard. The torpedo-boat started a counter attack and it dropped nine (sets) of depth charges. They were not close and caused no damage to Pandora. (11)

4 Oct 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) was briefly docked at Alexandria. She was undocked later the same day. (14)

14 Oct 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) departed Alexandria for her 7th war patrol (6th in the Mediterranean). She was ordered to patrol off the Gulf of Taranto.

For the daily and attack positions of HMS Pandora during this patrol see the map below.

(11)

16 Oct 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) attacked an Italian submarine north of the Gulf of Bomba. A total of three torpedoes were fired but none hit their intended target.

The target was the the Italian submarine Topazio in company with Ascianghi. Topazio had observed Pandora but was unsure of her identity and refrained from taking action from fear of attacking Ascianghi by mistake.

(All times are zone -3)
2120 hours - In position 32°57'N, 23°22'E sighted two Italian submarines in line ahead 1500 yards apart. Started attack.

The seconds submarine was seen to dive but the first one remained on the surface so at 2129 hours two torpedoes were fired at it. As soon as the torpedoes were fired she turned away and dived. Pandora then also dived.

The Italian must have surfaced again as they were sighted through the periscope and their HE was picked up.

2152 hours - Fired another torpedo at the HE. It also missed. (11)

21 Oct 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) was ordered to patrol in the Adriatic on the shipping lanes between Bari and Durazzo. (11)

30 Dec 1940HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) departed Alexandria for Gibraltar where she was to join the 8th submarine flotilla based there. Also Pandora was to embark a new battery at Gibraltar.

During passage Pandora was to make a short patrol off the east coast of Sardinia making this passage her 9th war patrol (8th in the Mediterranean).

For the daily and attack positions of HMS Pandora during this patrol see the map below.

(10)

9 Jan 1941HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) torpedoed and sank the Italian merchants Valdivagna (5400 GRT, built 1913) and Palma (2715 GRT, built 1919) about 10 nautical miles east-north-east of Cape Ferrato, Sardinia in position 39°22'N, 09°50'E. They were en-route from Civitavecchia to Cagliari and were unescorted.

The hospital ship Sorrento arrived on the scene and picked up both crews with the exception of two. The torpedo boat Giuseppe Dezza, MAS 502 and a Z.501 seaplane hunted the submarine and claiming it as probably sunk but Pandora had managed to escape without damage.

(All times are zone -1)
0521 hours - Sighted a ship approaching.

0640 hours - Dived and started attack.

0700 hours - Sighted a second ship.

0822 hours - Fired two torpedoes at the first ship from 1400 yards. One hit was obtained. Started attack on the second ship.

0838 hours - Fired one torpedo from 1000 yards. It missed.

0845 hours - Fired one torpedo from 2000 yards. It hit. Both ships, estimated at 5000 and 4000 tons, were now in a sinking condition and there was little doubt that they would sink. (10)

20 Jan 1941HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, RN) departed Gibraltar for Portsmouth. Her new battery was to be installed there instead of at Gibraltar. En-route (on the 26th) she was ordered to make a short patrol off Cherbourg, France making this passage her 10th war patrol at Portsmouth.

Cairndale was to provide fuel for the destroyers of Force H which was to patrol off the Bay fo Biscay in case the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were to break out in the Atlantic again.

For the daily positions of HMS Pandora during this patrol see the map below.

29 Apr 1941HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, DSC, RN) departed Gibraltar for her 13th war patrol (9th in the Mediterranean). She was ordered to patrol off Naples, Italy.

For the daily and attack positions of HMS Pandora during this patrol see the map below.

(10)

11 May 1941HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, DSC, RN) attacked an unescorted tanker south of Licosa Point. Four torpedoes in all were fired but none hit the target. This may have been the water tanker Elisa (216 GRT, built 1903) on passage from Trapani to Tripoli. The attack was unobserved.

(All times are zone -1)
1604 hours - In approximate position 40°03'N, 14°58'E sighted the funnel of a ship. Closed to investigate. The ship turned out to be a tanker of about 3500 tons. An attack was started.

1636 hours - Fired three torpedoes from 3000 yards. No hits were obtained and the 3rd torpedo was not heard to run.

24 May 1941At 1137 HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, DSC, RN) sighted an Italian submarine west of the Portuguese coast in position 41°04'N, 11°12'W. This was Mocenigo on her way from Bordeaux, France for an Atlantic patrol.

Two rounds with the deck gun were fired. The enemy submarine then dived. (10)

25 May 1941HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, DSC, RN) was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay to intercept the German battleship Bismarck making for a French port.

The passage to Portsmouth now became her 14th war patrol.

For the daily positions of HMS Pandora during this patrol see the map below.

10 Jun 1941HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, DSC, RN) departed Dartmouth for Portsmouth, U.S.A. where she was to refit at the Navy Yard.

For the daily positions of HMS Pandora during this passage see the map below.

(18)

18 Jun 1941At 1840 hours (time zone +2) HMS Pandora (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, DSC, RN), while in position 43°20'N, 28°02'W, sights a lifeboat and picks up 12 survivors from the Dutch tanker Pendrecht that was torpedoed and sunk on 8 June 1941 about 500 nautical miles north-west of the Azores in position 45°18'N, 36°40'W by German U-boat U-48. (18)

1 Apr 1942HMS Pandora (Lt. R.L. Alexander, RN) was bombed and sunk at Malta while unloading the supplies at Hamilton Wharf. She was hit by two bombs, two officers and twenty-five ratings died in the attack. Her wreck was raised in September 1943 and beached in Kalkara Creek, eventually scrapped in 1957. Whilst breaking the wreck up two bodies were found in a dry compartment

Sources

ADM 173/15891

ADM 173/15892

ADM 173/15893

ADM 173/16395

ADM 173/16396

ADM 173/16397

ADM 173/16398

ADM 173/16399

ADM 173/16400

ADM 199/1832

ADM 199/283

ADM 173/16401

ADM 173/16402

ADM 173/16404

ADM 173/16405

ADM 173/16406

ADM 173/16875

ADM 173/16879

ADM 199/1907

ADM 199/2565

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.